Friday, May 9, 2008

Huge Markets vs Who Really Clicks on Ads

There are tens of thousands of blogs and websites competing for ad dollars.

You may not be getting your fair share.

Here are a few observations after more than a few years of watching this stuff and measuring LOTS of analytics.

Some of my own (or my former clients') best 'income days' were NOT high volume at all. They were when a (carefully marketed) website (or website page) hit a high demand search. There's a big difference. One that can both save you and make you money at the same time.

There's also a huge difference when someone else is running mainstream media (especially TV) ads for your particular target market. You're simply riding along with their advertising if you're there at the right time. (This is a huge plus, rarely mentioned!)

Your 'customers' are shopping for a very specific product, service or information. They're digging on the net. They WILL click on ads because time is a factor and if the ad looks good, it may provide their solution. Think about it. You probably do it yourself?

It can be because of 'the times' (ie: gas prices, high mileage cars) or something people will always be searching for (ie: honeymoons).

It doesn't matter if your target market is saturated OR if the PPC buys are high. You can geo-target markets, or find numerous other ways around that.

Use a solid mix of SEO and PPC and, more importantly, don't fixate on the competition!

Most importantly, set a budget and stick to it.

Maybe this will be the first in a series or something. It really hurts me when I see some people working day and night (some really nice people) and going nowhere. Consider it a starter kit of a few points that I think (I hope?) will help some to re-think what they are doing.